Ready for Homeownership? Here are three steps when considering buying a home: 1. Create a detailed budget in the rental world. Include the financial demands of your social life, hobbies, and other key priorities of your life. 2. Do a second budget, remove the rental items, and include property tax estimate, hydro, water, insurance, and repair estimates. Once you have accounted for all annual required miscellaneous savings that you will put away for monthly, what is left is the mortgage payment you can afford. 3. If you are happy with your numbers from the steps above, it may be time to meet with a professional mortgage broker to get pre-approved and see what amount of mortgage your payment will buy.